Some Cigar Brands…

Back in February, I wrote a piece called “Some Cigars…” about the different ways I thought about the cigars I’d smoked. After writing my review of the DPG Cuban Classic, I found myself thinking about cigar brands in much the same way. Just as “some cigars…” had triggered the earlier piece, I began thinking, “Some cigar brands…”

Since early 2025, I’ve researched a long list of cigar brands. Looking back over them, I noticed that certain brands kept reminding me of others. So I decided to have a little fun with it. The brand lists are only a sample of what I’ve researched, but they give you an idea of the patterns I kept seeing.

Some brands are so secretive that getting any information out of them is like talking to a three-letter intelligence agency.

NF Cigars
Curivari
IGM Cigars

Some brands go about their business with quiet humility. They make fantastic cigars and don’t need a grand story to get me to smoke another.

Southern Draw
Lanuza Cigars
Las Villas
HVC
Paul Stulac

Some brands are so rooted in their tradition that anything new or different they produce seems like a reinvention.

La Aurora
Macanudo
Montecristo
Joya de Nicaragua

Some brands only need their names mentioned to bring luxury, impeccable quality, and the pinnacle of cigar making to mind. I may not like everything they make and find some downright overrated. Even so, these brands have made enough exceptional cigars to earn their reputations.

Arturo Fuente
Padrón
Davidoff
Meerapfel

Some brands are the Carole Kings of cigars: quietly making hits for other names before stepping into the spotlight themselves. Then you see their own band and think, Wait! You made those too?

Pages
Las Villas
El Titán de Bronze
Garmendia

Some brands have an unmistakable signature. You recognize it across their own cigars, even as the blends change. Sometimes you recognize it in a cigar they’ve made for somebody else, too.

AJ Fernández
Don Pepín García
La Flor Dominicana
Curivari
Domain

Some brands are impossible to pin down. Just when I think I’ve figured them out, they release a cigar that leaves me scratching my head. I’ve given up trying to guess what they’ll do next.

Crowned Heads
Definition
Warped
Viaje

Some brands put out so many limited editions that I can’t tell what’s in their regular lineup, or whether they even have one. For some, it works. For others, I’m just confused.

Privada/LCA
El Mago
Arturo Fuente

Some brands are so magnetic that I’m drawn to them whether I like it or not. Half the time, I’ll buy their new stuff blind.

AJ Fernández
Cayman
El Titán de Bronze
Ferio Tego
Domain

One pattern didn’t make the list because I didn’t want to turn a light piece into a complaint: Some brands won’t give you the time of day. I reach out to companies when I research their cigars, and most are generous with their answers. They’ll tell me about the blend, the factory, and the people involved. A few never respond at all.

I can understand a large company overlooking an inquiry from an independent blogger. It catches me off guard when a small brand does it. Brian Desind posted a reel a couple of months ago about the same thing. He said some brands don’t even have the courtesy to tell him to pound sand. I knew exactly what he meant.

This criticism doesn’t include a brand like Curivari. They’re known across the industry about being tight-lipped about their operation, but they’ll at least acknowledge me with a like, so they get a pass. Silence from a small brand, though, still puzzles me, especially with so many brands competing to be noticed.